Post by JohnGonzalez on Mar 16, 2005 11:54:25 GMT -5
March 11, 2005, 11:26AM
Tejano music lasts in spite of challenges
Genre survives its hybridization
By RAMIRO BURR
In the past decade, Tejano has convulsed and contracted as it has been hit by the powerful rise of several popular subgenres.
But like rock and country, the music has endured changing tastes and trends. And with the 25th anniversary of the Tejano Music Awards scheduled Saturday in Eagle Pass, it's appropriate to take stock of Tejano as it enters its fifth decade as a vibrant American genre.
Tejano's supremacy in the Southwest was most severely challenged by the norteño-Tejano wave played by Intocable, Zinzerro, Notable, Imán, Duelo and others. Another heated front is the youthful crossbreed sonics of cumbia, funk, hip-hop and more represented by Kingz 1, DJ Kane, Grupo Chevere, Tabu and the Kumbia Kings.
It is a little ironic, considering Tejano began as a hybrid of conjunto and orquesta Tejana. In 1956, singer and saxophonist Isidro Lopez created Tejano's template when he brought those elements together at the famed Discos Ideal Studios in Alice.
Record labels depart
While many in Tejano bemoaned the late-'90s departure of the major record labels, few realized that in recent years the music has simply returned to its natural state as an independent-minded, folk-rooted family style.
Despite the changes and challenges, a small cadre continues to keep the faith alive, plugging away in the time-honored tradition. Houston bands Fiel and Carlos Maldonado y Grupo Fuerte exemplify these new traditionalists.
Others include El Toro Felipe Munoz, F7, Lumbre, Invicto, Tremendos V, Ambición and Jimmy Lee y Tentación. In San Antonio, new faces include La Fuerza, Yvette, Grupo Alamo, Los Hermanos Laque and Los Tovares.
These groups, mostly without major radio airplay or big-label promotions, blend conjunto's folksy accordion-fueled polkas with orquesta Tejana's dense keyboard arrangements.
Of course, established names such as David Lee Garza, Ramiro Herrera, Shelly Lares, Jay Perez and others get all the radio play. But to continue to attract new, youthful audiences, a constant infusion of young blood is necessary.
"The new groups may be young, but their influences go back as far as Jimmy Edward and Los Chachos," says veteran Houston promoter Jesse Rodriguez. He said that in the Houston area, barbecue cook-offs and church festivals have replaced low-rider clubs and softball tournaments as gathering places for young music fans.
"Here, cook-off teams are the new wave of socialization," Rodriguez said. "The fans enjoy the traditional practices of barbecuing, gathering with friends and listening to Tejano music. The point is that these young Tejanos are looking for Tejano artists in their age group."
Youthful venues
In San Antonio, a city blessed with tons of music choices, young Tejano fans typically get their fill at the major Market Square celebrations and the church festival circuit. There are also the standard venues such as Cattleman Square Tavern, Cool Arrows and Arturo's Sports Bar.
"It's important for the traditional Tejano sound to keep going because fans from the early '90s still thirst for that type of music," says San Antonio record promoter Robert Rivas, who also DJ'ed at the famous T-Town nightclub during Tejano's early-'90s gold rush. "Unfortunately, many bands have either shifted gears to the regional Mexican sound and the Kumbia Kings' style of music."
Fiel and Fuerte regularly play in Houston nightspots such as Bea's Island Club and Roy Meza's Beer Garden.
Led by drummer Albert R. Romo, Fiel leans toward the Mazz school of music, with elaborate keyboard arrangements and pop hooks. The group takes on the evergreen polka Qué Chulos Ojos and the Latin Breed-identified Yo Vendo Unos Ojos Negros.
Fuerte comes from Tejano's foot-stomping heritage, in the same vein that has produced the Hometown Boys and Los Dos Gilbertos. Utilizing Carlos Maldonado's bajo sexto and Federico Cadriel's accordion, the group solidly whips up blues-drenched conjunto polkas and boleros on its self-titled debut.
The group shines on Leo Dan's timeless Te He Prometido, a forlorn song about love being trumped by social class. They add polka punch and verve to the old Mexican cumbia Negra Tomasa. Hard-core fans will get off on the Polkas Fuertes, a potpourri of conjunto standards.
While Fiel and Fuerte, like the other new groups, may not get airplay on the major radio stations, they can be heard on independent stations such as San Antonio's KEDA-AM and the Houston area's KRTX-FM.
Fuerte was among the dozens of other new groups performing at the three-day Tejano Music Awards FanFair that was scheduled to run March 11 through today at San Antonio's Market Square.
Tejano music lasts in spite of challenges
Genre survives its hybridization
By RAMIRO BURR
In the past decade, Tejano has convulsed and contracted as it has been hit by the powerful rise of several popular subgenres.
But like rock and country, the music has endured changing tastes and trends. And with the 25th anniversary of the Tejano Music Awards scheduled Saturday in Eagle Pass, it's appropriate to take stock of Tejano as it enters its fifth decade as a vibrant American genre.
Tejano's supremacy in the Southwest was most severely challenged by the norteño-Tejano wave played by Intocable, Zinzerro, Notable, Imán, Duelo and others. Another heated front is the youthful crossbreed sonics of cumbia, funk, hip-hop and more represented by Kingz 1, DJ Kane, Grupo Chevere, Tabu and the Kumbia Kings.
It is a little ironic, considering Tejano began as a hybrid of conjunto and orquesta Tejana. In 1956, singer and saxophonist Isidro Lopez created Tejano's template when he brought those elements together at the famed Discos Ideal Studios in Alice.
Record labels depart
While many in Tejano bemoaned the late-'90s departure of the major record labels, few realized that in recent years the music has simply returned to its natural state as an independent-minded, folk-rooted family style.
Despite the changes and challenges, a small cadre continues to keep the faith alive, plugging away in the time-honored tradition. Houston bands Fiel and Carlos Maldonado y Grupo Fuerte exemplify these new traditionalists.
Others include El Toro Felipe Munoz, F7, Lumbre, Invicto, Tremendos V, Ambición and Jimmy Lee y Tentación. In San Antonio, new faces include La Fuerza, Yvette, Grupo Alamo, Los Hermanos Laque and Los Tovares.
These groups, mostly without major radio airplay or big-label promotions, blend conjunto's folksy accordion-fueled polkas with orquesta Tejana's dense keyboard arrangements.
Of course, established names such as David Lee Garza, Ramiro Herrera, Shelly Lares, Jay Perez and others get all the radio play. But to continue to attract new, youthful audiences, a constant infusion of young blood is necessary.
"The new groups may be young, but their influences go back as far as Jimmy Edward and Los Chachos," says veteran Houston promoter Jesse Rodriguez. He said that in the Houston area, barbecue cook-offs and church festivals have replaced low-rider clubs and softball tournaments as gathering places for young music fans.
"Here, cook-off teams are the new wave of socialization," Rodriguez said. "The fans enjoy the traditional practices of barbecuing, gathering with friends and listening to Tejano music. The point is that these young Tejanos are looking for Tejano artists in their age group."
Youthful venues
In San Antonio, a city blessed with tons of music choices, young Tejano fans typically get their fill at the major Market Square celebrations and the church festival circuit. There are also the standard venues such as Cattleman Square Tavern, Cool Arrows and Arturo's Sports Bar.
"It's important for the traditional Tejano sound to keep going because fans from the early '90s still thirst for that type of music," says San Antonio record promoter Robert Rivas, who also DJ'ed at the famous T-Town nightclub during Tejano's early-'90s gold rush. "Unfortunately, many bands have either shifted gears to the regional Mexican sound and the Kumbia Kings' style of music."
Fiel and Fuerte regularly play in Houston nightspots such as Bea's Island Club and Roy Meza's Beer Garden.
Led by drummer Albert R. Romo, Fiel leans toward the Mazz school of music, with elaborate keyboard arrangements and pop hooks. The group takes on the evergreen polka Qué Chulos Ojos and the Latin Breed-identified Yo Vendo Unos Ojos Negros.
Fuerte comes from Tejano's foot-stomping heritage, in the same vein that has produced the Hometown Boys and Los Dos Gilbertos. Utilizing Carlos Maldonado's bajo sexto and Federico Cadriel's accordion, the group solidly whips up blues-drenched conjunto polkas and boleros on its self-titled debut.
The group shines on Leo Dan's timeless Te He Prometido, a forlorn song about love being trumped by social class. They add polka punch and verve to the old Mexican cumbia Negra Tomasa. Hard-core fans will get off on the Polkas Fuertes, a potpourri of conjunto standards.
While Fiel and Fuerte, like the other new groups, may not get airplay on the major radio stations, they can be heard on independent stations such as San Antonio's KEDA-AM and the Houston area's KRTX-FM.
Fuerte was among the dozens of other new groups performing at the three-day Tejano Music Awards FanFair that was scheduled to run March 11 through today at San Antonio's Market Square.
